NISBET PAINTING

Robert Hogg Nisbet’s winter landscape, which has been on display over the fireplace in the Bement Room at the Library, is on its way for a much-needed facelift. The oil on canvas painting in its original frame has the artist’s handwritten label attached. For many years it was hung in the stairwell going down to the lower floor where the Museum & Archives is located. Over time it suffered age and wear including having small dents, punctures, abrasions and a fine network of cracks. Thanks to CPC

(Community Preservation Committee) funding it will undergo conservation at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center. Work will include surface cleaning, securing loose paint, and repair work done on the small tears, punctures, and losses of paint. The frame will be worked on and strengthened, and the artist’s handwritten label will be secured and reattached.

Robert Hogg Nisbet (1879-1961) won three National Academy awards, several etching awards and the National Arts Club (painting) prize for his work. He was one of the exhibitors at the Stockbridge Casino’s annual exhibit of painting and sculpture, exhibiting from 1911 through 1930. The Casino, which was located on the property at the corner of Main and Sergeant Streets where the Mission House is currently situated, was moved to East Main Street on the corner of Yale Hill Road and became the Berkshire Playhouse (today’s Berkshire Theatre Group’s Fitzpatrick Main Stage). The exhibits, which started in 1909, continued after the building was moved, ending in the 1930’s. The Nisbet painting (pictured above left) was on exhibit in the 1912 show (above right program excerpt) and was later donated to the Library as were paintings by other Casino exhibitors. These paintings represent the artistic culture that was in Stockbridge at that time. An article in the September 15, 1912 Springfield Republican states “The annual Stockbridge exhibition has now come to be recognized as sharing of that at Lyme, Ct. [sic], the distinction of being among the most important of the summer events in the art world.”

The wall in the Bement Room will not remain empty while the Nisbet painting is being restored thanks to the generosity of private collectors, Arnold Jaffe and Diane Thurston. In that space will be an oil on canvas, Girl in the Chinese Porcelain Room, (pictured right) by Matilda Auchincloss Brownell (1871-1966) which was created in 1910. Matilda was also a frequent exhibitor at the Stockbridge Casino annual exhibitions during the same time period as Nisbet. One of her specialties, figure painting, was hailed as the highest level of artistic achievement. She also pursued still life painting and portraiture. The Library is very fortunate to have this painting on display while the Nisbet painting is being worked on. (Pictured below – wrapping up the Nisbet painting and hanging the Brownell painting are Martin Mahoney

(right) and Joe Tonetti (left) who are part of the Curatorial Staff at Norman Rockwell Museum)

Join us on Saturday, August 24 at 1 pm when in the Bement Room when Arnold Jaffe will tell us

about the Girl in the Chinese Porcelain Room.

STOCKBRIDGE WATER COMPANY PUMPING STATION ON AVERIC ROAD IS 100 YEARS OLD

The lintel over the door of the stone pumping station on Averic Road reads STOCKBRIDGE WATER CO. 1919. Though it was built 100 years ago, the

Stockbridge Water Company has its beginnings even earlier. A copy of a book entitled STOCKBRIDGE WATER COMPANY 1862-1895 is in the collection of the Museum & Archives. It includes minutes of their meetings, lists of customers and the rates charged them, lists of stockholders and the shares held by them, officers elected, and business transacted. It starts with the first meeting of June 14, 1862 when J. E. Field, C. M. Owen, H. J. Dunham, and F. Hoffman met at the office of Field & Dunham to choose a moderator, organize as a corporation, choose officers, fix the number of shares and their face value, determine the mode of calling meetings, and adopt any necessary bylaws. On July 2, 1862 they met to make plans to prepare a reservoir with a stone dam on the land of Patrick Burns (Boulder Farm, 13 Ice Glen Road). Future meetings mention extending pipes in the back street, extending water into North Street, giving free use of water for the Library building, extending pipes further east, changing rates, adding additional springs, borrowing money to pay toward an artesian well, introducing water into Goodrich Street, enlarging the capacity of the reservoir, issuing shares of stocks, and paying dividends. According to the August 23, 1882 Laurel Hill Minutes, a new road had been ordered from Lake Averic passing along the foot of the mountain and connecting with the road to West Stockbridge. This gave easier access to that lake as well as a pleasant drive. In 1889 the Commonwealth gave the Stockbridge Water Company the right to take lands by eminent domain. At the Oct. 12, 1891 meeting the Company voted to “take, purchase or lease on behalf of the Company the real estate belonging to Stephen C. Curtis or any water rights owned by him or any other parties controlling or affecting the waters of Lake Averic and to contract with parties for laying the pipe and doing all work necessary to bring the waters of that lake to the village of Stockbridge”. Stephen C. Curtis lived at what is now 3 & 5 Averic Road and ran a mill on the brook from Averic Lake just north of his house and barn. The mill was a combination grist, saw and cider mill (See Issue 12 page 2 January 2011 on the Library website for an article on the Curtis Mill). At the November 16, 1891 meeting they voted “to take by eminent domain for the purposes of a water supply to the town of Stockbridge . . . such lands bordering on Lake Averic as may be needed for the purposes of the said company, and along the line of the pipes to be laid from said lake to the village of Stockbridge”. By January 1892 they were discussing cost of pipe and building a gate house etc. at their meeting. Unfortunately the book only goes until 1895 and stops before the Company switched to using Lake Averic and no longer using the reservoir on Ice Glen Road. As far as the pumping station is concerned, it wasn’t built until 1919 as the lintel tells us. The small rear extension was built at the same time and was used as a coal storage area; but was made into a heated part of the building long ago. There was a much smaller brick building at the northeast corner of the intersection of Averic Road and Train Hill Road which was torn down. This was referred to on the 1904 map as “Pumping Sta. Stockbridge Water Co.” and the 1952 Directory as “SWCo. Old Pumping Station”. The town of Stockbridge had formed committees in 1962 and 1968 to look at the feasibility of purchasing the Stockbridge Water Company. One newspaper article stated that they had looked at transferring ownership to the town as

early as 1894. In 1972 another committee was formed and it was voted at the town meeting to purchase the Company. The town acquired the capital stock of the company at the close of business December 31, 1972 and began operation of the company on January 1, 1973. The pumping station on Averic Road is currently only used for storage; but it served for many years as an important piece of the system which furnished water to those living in the town (Newton Kickery worked at the

Pumping Station for many years -- pictured left on undated photo postcard c. 1940s-1950s).

EXHIBIT IN PROCTER GALLERY

The ‘Native American Basketry’ exhibit from the collection of Kathryn Beebe, Library employee and M&A volunteer, will continue through August. Stop by and enjoy this beautiful exhibit.

SELF-GUIDED CEMETERY TOUR The Museum & Archives is in the process of creating a self-guided cemetery tour brochure which will be

available in late August or early September. It will help you enjoy visiting the graves of some of Stockbridge’s notable residents. It will give a brief synopsis of each resident and show the location of their graves. Among those included will be Norman Rockwell, the Sedgwick family, Cyrus West Field, Mumbet, and John Sergeant along with many more who helped shape Stockbridge’s history. More information will be available in the upcoming weeks.

HOUSATONIC HERITAGE WALKS August will be the last of the M&A neighborhood walks. We hope that you have enjoyed them and thank you for making them a success.

The annual Housatonic Heritage Walks will be held every weekend during the month of September. They include of many programs free to the public. M&A volunteer, Pat Flinn, will be among those offering presentations with her informative Mary Flynn Trail walk on Saturday, September 7 at 1 pm.

For more information on dates and times etc. visit their web site housatonicheritage.org/events/heritage-walks/.

IN PLAIN SITE

The last of the M&A monthly history walks featuring different Stockbridge neighborhoods will be held

Saturday, August 17th at 4 pm. Join the group and learn about

“From Bowker to Butler: The Woods & Beyond”. A $5 donation is suggested.

(Pictured left is Museum & Archives volunteer Susan Coles, leading a group in July at the Marian Fathers on Prospect Hill Road. Pictured right is Museum & Archives volunteer, Deb McMenamy, leading a group in June exploring the history of Sergeant Street.)

PROCTER MUSEUM & ARCHIVES HOURS Tuesday 9-8, Wednesday and Friday 9-5, Thursdays 9-1 and Saturdays 9-2 If you plan to spend time researching, it is always a good idea to call (298-8190) to check for availability.

BERKSHIRE CHAMBER PLAYERS CONCERT Friday, September 27 at 6:00 p.m.

Join us in the first part of the Berkshire Chamber Players concert series. Musicians Natalie Kress and Robyn Quinnett on violins, Charlotte Malin on viola and Ronald Feldman on cello will perform pieces from Haydn, Kevin Puts, Bach and Beethoven.